The Supervision of Social Workers in Italy: Defining an Essential Level for Social Services

Social work is both a rewarding and challenging profession. On the one hand, social workers are called upon to work with people who have diverse needs throughout the life cycle and who are not always willing to accept help; on the other hand, they work in organisations that are often chronically under-resourced and therefore have very high caseloads. The direct and indirect consequences of the SARS COV 2 health emergency have presented social services with unprecedented challenges. In this context of increasing complexity, research has shown that professional supervision is associated with job satisfaction, personal well-being, commitment to the organisation and retention. Since the end of 2000, the Italian government has introduced measures to support social work practice: first by increasing the number of social workers in the field, then by introducing supervision as an essential activity to support professional well-being. Based on an analysis of the Italian case, this chapter focuses on the potential of effective professional supervision as a factor that can facilitate the recruitment and retention of social workers, thereby contributing to solving the problem of the post-Covid-19 workforce. It describes the process that led to the definition of supervision as an essential support for social workers, highlighting the collaborative efforts of government, the professional association and academia in the creation of a supervision pathway (with public sector funding) for social workers employed in local authorities, the training of social worker supervisors and the definition of supervision evaluation tools.